Miscellaneous Player Editing Info in NBA Live

From NLSC Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search

The following is a list of miscellaneous information regarding the editing of players in the PC version of NBA Live. It includes various tips and tricks to locating data in the databases (DBF files), basic instructions for editing players and more.

Changing player height and weight

It is possible to change a player's height and weight through DBF editing, simply by editing the values in the HEIGHT and WEIGHT columns in the database. Please note that in the database, height is represented in inches (eg six feet = 72 inches, hence a value of 72 will result in a 6' player) while weight is represented in pounds, the in-game values matching the measurement (ie a value of 250 is equal to 250 pounds).

Using DB Commander, simply open the database file and locate the player you wish to edit. Enter new values in the HEIGHT and WEIGHT column as desired, move to a different cell (box) in the database and close the database before you re-load the roster file. Your changes will now show up in-game.

Note that NBA Live 98 through NBA Live 2001 as well as NBA Live 2003 and NBA Live 2004 store this data in the players.dbf file. From NBA Live 2005 through NBA Live 08, this data is stored in appearance.dbf. Locating data in appearance.dbf can be trickier; please see below for more information.

Locating a player in appearance.dbf

To locate a player in appearance.dbf, you must first make a note of their ID number in players.dbf. In NBA Live 2005, it is also possible to search via the ID7 column using the appropriate PLAYERPKG, but this may also prove confusing so it is a better habit to get into searching for players by their corresponding ID number. To do this:

  1. Open players.dbf
  2. Search for the player you wish to edit. Make a note of their ID number. Remember that some players have multiple entries because they show up on multiple teams (such as All-Stars and Legends teams) so make sure you have the right entry. If in doubt, check the TEAM attribute (a list of Team IDs is readily accessible by checking out the teams.dbf file).
  3. Make a note of the number that appears under the PLAYERID column. This is their ID number. If editing multiple players or multiple instances of the same player, note each ID number as necessary.
  4. Open appearance.dbf
  5. Search for the ID number under the APPEARID column. This will allow you to jump straight to the player's appearance data. Common attributes you will be editing here are the height, weight, skin tone and body type.
  6. Make your desired changes
  7. Repeat as necessary

Changing between the two generic shot types

NBA Live 2003 introduced a couple of different generic jumpshot styles that could be assigned to players, depending on certain attributes. This differs from the signature styles that can be assigned in NBA Live 08, which involves a separate field in the database.

To assign the "big man" shooting form, a player must have the following attributes:

  • Weight of 241 pounds or greater (the bodytype can be changed as necessary)
  • Dribbling rating of 58 or lower
  • Passing rating of 58 or lower

If a player's weight is under 241 pounds, the "normal" shooting form is used instead and a player does not need ratings of 58 for passing and dribbling (passing at least can be lower if desired).

Retiring players/Removing players from the rosters

The safest way to set players as retired/remove them from the active rosters is to change their TEAM attribute in players.dbf. It is not recommended that you delete rows from the database as this can lead to crashes and other undesirable behaviour.

Pre-DBF Files

For the PC version of NBA Live 95, NBA Live 96 and NBA Live 97, players can easily be replaced by using their respective unofficial editors. The editors can be used to change player names, bio data and appearance, effectively removing the old players from the roster.

NBA Live 98 & NBA Live 99

In NBA Live 98 and NBA Live 99, players can be easily removed from the active rosters by assigning a TEAM value that does not correspond to an ID assigned in teams.dbf. You can also use the in-game Create-a-Player to delete players if you wish:

  1. Open the players.dbf file.
  2. Locate the player you wish to delete. Searching by last name is usually the most effective method.
  3. Change the player's ISCREATED value from False to True
  4. Close the database and run the game
  5. Load the roster from within the game
  6. Go to Create-a-Player
  7. Select the Delete Player option
  8. The player you tagged as created will appear in the list. You should now be able to delete them using the in-game function as the game will recognise them as a created player rather than an original one.


Both methods are safe, however the first is preferable as the player's database entry is retained and available to be easily restored if desired.

NBA Live 2000 onwards

From NBA Live 2000 onwards, the teams.dbf file includes a Retired Pool (value 32) which can be used to deactivate players; simply change their TEAM value in players.dbf to 32. Any players placed in the Retired Pool will be cleared from the database upon starting a new Franchise/Dynasty game. Players can easily be moved back to the active rosters by changing their TEAM value to 50 Free Agents or any other team as desired.

Links